Podsnap Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-17.

Podsnap (formerly Skipper) is a podcast player that skips ads. It is built and run by one person. This policy says what the app and its companion server actually do with data, in plain words.

What the server stores

Four kinds of data, in plain terms: transcripts of episodes (text and timing, shared by episode, not by you), skip events (when and where in an episode a skip happened, so detection can be checked and improved), device identifiers (a random ID that identifies an install, not a person), and your library (what you subscribe to and where you are in it, kept for you alone, if you sign in). The first three carry no name; the fourth is tied to your Google account and shared with nobody.

What Podsnap collects

Google account identity. Signing in with Google is required to request transcription of new episodes and to subscribe to Podsnap Plus. The server verifies your Google ID token and stores your Google account ID and email address, used to meter free transcriptions and to check subscription status. Nothing else from your Google account is accessed. Without signing in you can play, stream, download, and use every episode anyone has already processed.

Listening activity sent to the server. When an episode is transcribed or its ad segments are fetched, the app sends the podcast feed URL, episode identifier, the episode's audio URL, and audio duration. The server fetches the episode audio from its public URL (or receives your copy of it), transcribes it, and stores the transcript and detected ad segments. Transcripts and ad segments are shared: any Podsnap user who plays the same episode benefits from them. They are keyed to the episode, never to you.

Skip events. When a skip happens — automatic or by your own mark — the app sends where in the episode it happened. This is stored keyed to the episode and the random device ID, not to your name or email, and is used to check and improve ad detection.

Listening positions. As you play, the app sends which stretches of an episode you listened to and at what speed, keyed to the episode and the random device ID (or to your library, if you are signed in). This powers your listening stats and tells the server which transcripts people actually use. It is never the audio, and it carries no name or email unless you sign in.

A random device identifier. The app generates a random ID at install, used to meter free transcriptions before sign-in existed and to match transcript timing to your exact copy of an episode. It identifies an install, not a person, and is not derived from your hardware.

Ad-segment marks you make. Manually marked segments are uploaded to the shared database so other listeners of that episode can use them. They carry the random device ID, not your name or email.

Your library

What syncs. When you are signed in with Google, Podsnap keeps your library on the server so it follows you from one device to the next: the podcasts you subscribe to, the folders you sort them into, your playlists, the episodes you star, how far through each episode you are, and your listening stats. That list is exhaustive — it is never the audio, and it is never anything about you beyond the library itself.

Why. So that signing in on a second phone, or on a new one, gives you the library you already had, instead of an empty app.

Who it is tied to. The Google account you sign in with, and nothing else. It is not tied to the random install ID, it is not pooled with other listeners' libraries, and unlike transcripts and ad segments it is never shared with anyone: your library is yours, and it is the one thing on the server that is.

How it travels. Over HTTPS, authenticated, the same as everything else the app sends.

When it happens. Signing in starts it; signing out stops it. There is nothing to switch on and nothing to configure — if you are signed in, your library syncs, and if you are not, nothing about it leaves the device.

How it goes away. Delete your account and the server's copy is deleted with it, in the same operation. Signing out stops the sync and leaves the library on your phone, where it is yours to keep or to delete in the app; the server's copy waits there for the next sign-in until you delete the account.

What it is never used for. It is never sold, never shared with a third party, never used for advertising, and never used to build a profile of you. Nobody reads it. It is a backup of your own app, kept for you.

If you never sign in, none of this happens: the app works, and your library never leaves the device.

The subscription

The first 30 episodes played with ad-skipping on are free. After that, continuing to skip ads requires Podsnap Plus, a $1.99/month subscription. The subscription itself — payment, renewal, and cancellation — is handled entirely by Google Play, not by Podsnap. Podsnap's server only checks whether your Google account has an active subscription; it never sees your payment method or billing details.

What Podsnap does not do

Storage and security

Server data lives on a private machine operated by the developer. All app–server traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and authenticated. Nightly backups are kept for 7 days.

Deleting your data

In the app: Settings → Sign out removes the account from the device and stops the library sync. To delete your account server-side (account ID, email, display name, transcription metering, your subscription record, and your synced library), use the in-app account deletion, or email the address below and it will be deleted within 7 days. Full instructions: delete your Podsnap account. Shared transcripts and ad segments are community data keyed to episodes, contain nothing about you, and remain. Deleting your account does not cancel a Google Play subscription — cancel that separately in Google Play.

Contact

[email protected]

Changes

If this policy changes, the date above changes, and material changes will be called out in the app's release notes.

See also: terms of service.